Course notes
by flower pot girl
Summary: An old colleague of Jack's meets him in an unlikely place.


Disclaimer; I do not own Stargate SG-1 and I am not making money from this fanfiction.

I couldn't believe it when I heard that Jack O'Neill was a Brigadier General. I mean, don't get me wrong, the guy was a fantastic field operative. I have never met anyone who could get into places they shouldn't like Jack or find their way home from the oddest places like he did. In a tight hole I would rather O'Neill was watching my six than any other officer I know.

But a General? Pushing paper round a desk?

I had heard he was at Cheyenne Mountain and there isn't much action to be had underground, but at least the paperwork must have been simple. No trying to remember the sequence of events which had transpired over the course of a mission or trying to put it all into Air Force speak. More like; watched scientist work all day with breaks for coffee or ran a simulated base invasion in case mad people broke in to stare at the nerds. Jack never liked scientists so I am sure there were some interesting moments. Not that he is stupid; you don't get to fly a plane in the Air Force if you can't work out basic propulsion and trajectory. He used to say that he could never find a scientist who could speak plain English, even when they were asking for a coffee.

So how he got promoted beats me. The quickest way is normally active duty, but sitting inside a mountain babysitting a load of scientists hardly counts. Jack may have considered it a difficult posting, but he was hardly at the front line and the greatest danger was probably the risk that he would thump the nearest geek.

The funniest thing is that Jack was good at following orders in combat but not so much otherwise. He made wise ass remarks and had a clever tongue which kept him on the edge of insubordination on more than one occasion. Stuffed shirt Generals he treated with as much contempt as he could get away with and now here he is wearing the stars. I wonder how he treats stroppy subordinates.

Still, the poor guy deserved a break. After his son died and his marriage fell apart he can't have had much of a social life. Andy saw him a few years ago and reckoned that Jack seemed to have come to terms with things although he did little but work and spend time fishing at his cabin. His social life seemed to be limited to his team and, close as you can get to people in combat, serving on a base like that was hardly going to make the bonds we had under fire. It was also no way to get a love life. Jack was always popular with the ladies, but he won't have had much luck among the geeks. They tend to go for other eggheads.

So, when I was sent to Washington for a course on 'Weaponry in the 21st Century' I was eager to meet up with Jack and see how he was getting on.

The first day started slowly, but picked up when the second lecturer walked in; a hot blonde who it turned out was also a Colonel. Not like any colonel I've ever met before. She was giving a talk on the use of technology in weapons, something about frequency and oscillations, but I was lost about there. Still the scenery was quite good; I could have watched her all day. I wonder where she got her 'field' experience. Oddly enough, on my way out for coffee, I bumped into Jack O'Neill. Although I was glad to see him, it did mean I couldn't follow the Colonel and introduce myself.

"Hi Jack,"

"Hey Rick, long time no see. What are you doing here? Didn't think you were in the 21st century yet."

"You can talk. I doubt you've had much use for advanced weaponry under a mountain." He got an odd expression on his face and laughed.

"You'd be surprised. How's life treating you Rick?"

"Not bad, however I haven't gotten as far as you!" I said pointing at his stars. As I did so, I noticed the number of medals he was wearing. Some were the mirror image of the ones on my uniform, but a few I'm not sure if I'd even seen before.

"Yeah, well, some of us have got it…"

"And some of us get command."

"Funny boy."

"So how did you get all those medals working with a bunch of geeks?"

"Hey, don't knock 'em, they come in useful sometimes. Did you enjoy the lectures?"

"The first guy was full of himself but obviously had no combat experience. Talk about unrealistic. The next one lost me just after 'Good morning', but was a pleasure to watch."

"Yeah, I didn't get a word first time I heard it."

"First time? You mean you have voluntarily sat through this more than once?"

"Voluntarily not so much, but I have heard it before. In fact, I could probably explain the first half to you now, although I still struggle with the more advanced concepts."

"Wow, is this still Jack O'Neill? You used to struggle with the theory of evolution, never mind advanced concepts!"

"Hey, I'm not as stupid as I look. Don't say anything, remember I outrank you. Although on this I must admit I did have a good teacher. Half the problem with scientists is that they make things more complicated than they need to be."

Another voice suddenly entered the conversation.

"Although it does help if you actually listen to the words, sir."

I turned to see the last lecturer stood behind me holding two cups, one of which she passed to Jack. They obviously knew each other and I wondered if this would be an opportunity to get to know the Colonel.

"Its weapons, Carter, all I need to know is how to fire them."

"Not necessarily, sir, because if you understand the technology…."

"Never gonna happen. Anyway, my days of active duty are over, so someone else needs to understand these weapons, not me."

I decided to make my presence known, as they seemed all set to bicker through the coffee break. We were on a time limit here and I hadn't even managed an introduction.

"So, Jack, you gonna pretend I'm not here, or what?"

"I wish. Looking forward to a quiet coffee and you show up. Sam, this is Rick Johnson, we worked together about twenty years ago. Rick, Sam Carter, today's expert lecturer."

"Nice to meet you, Sam, I really enjoyed your lecture. Surely not twenty years, Jack?"

"Well, I was at the SGC for eight and retired for a bit before that so it must be. We're old men now. And you said you lost track of her lecture before she even started."

"You're only as old as the woman you feel, don't they say? And I was only trying to make you feel better 'cos I knew you wouldn't understand a word."

"Hey, I told you I have a great teacher. And I hate to tell you this but you're saying puts me ten years younger."

It took me a minute to process that. He meant he was with a younger woman. Now I'm a highly trained soldier, with well honed observation skills, so it only took me until then to register a few points. Like the way the Colonel had brought him a drink and he had taken it without a word, the way they stood – not touching but closer than normal, the remarks about hearing the lecture previously, the 'good teacher' and her expression at his last comments.

Sam touched Jack lightly on the arm and inclined her head towards the conference room. He nodded and she sent a smile my way before heading back presumably to set up for the next lecture.

"Do I gather?" I gestured vaguely between them, pretty sure, but not wanting to say the wrong thing.

"My wife," said Jack proudly.

"Congratulations. How did you get her to marry you? After all, she is obviously intelligent, younger than you and I imagine in demand. I am sure she could have done better."

"Yeah, well, the old charm, you know," he muttered vaguely, his eyes still on the superb figure moving away from us. The scenery was good from that angle as well.


End file.
